This invention relates to a seamless crotch, knitted pantyhose garment, and more specifically relates to a seamless crotch pantyhose having a tear and run resistant material sewn onto the body portion thereof to provide the rise necessary from crotch to waistband to provide a well-fitted undergarment.
Garments have been made in the past providing a pantyhose which combines stocking portions with a body or panty portion to form an integral pantyhose structure which would not require the use of garter belts or hosiery support attachments which often resulted in snags or runs developing in the stockings. For example, Rice U.S. Pat. No. Re. 25,360 discloses a combination stocking and pantyhose structure which overcame the previous problem of utilizing separate garter belts or hosiery support attachments. Rice formed a pantyhose garment by forming two separate stockings with nylon yarn with an elongated welt formed at the top thereof. Upon completing the formation of the stockings, a U-shaped slit was formed in one stocking to mate with a U-shaped slit in the other stocking. These slits were joined together to form a continuous U-shaped seam which extends from the front of the pantyhose at the top thereof downwardly to bisect the crotch area and then upward again to the rear of the pantyhose section.
Later, Ferrell disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,675,247 a method of fabricating a pantyhose of the type designed by Rice wherein the steps of cutting a slit in the stockings and then sewing the two stockings together along the sides of the slits to form the combination panty-stocking garment was eliminated. However, the Ferrell method still resulted in a pantyhose stocking which had a seam extending through the crotch portion in the same manner as the Rice stocking. As is well known, seams are a particular problem in the crotch area of pantyhose where seams of the typical U-seam type or crotch panel type can cause the crotch to fit improperly or the seam of the U-seam or crotch piece can cause irritation in the sensitive crotch area. Accordingly, efforts were developed to provide a seamless pantyhose. Thus, Johnson disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,673,821 a pantyhose structure formed of a single tubular blank having a pair of leg portions and an intermediate body portion. The body portion was slit longitudinally and an elastic band 1/4" to 2- wide was secured thereto by a sewing step so that the pantyhose could be secured to the trunk portion of the body. This single piece seamless pantyhose, while being an improvement over the prior art in that it had no seams in the sensitive crotch area, had a substantial drawback which has proved difficult and has not been overcome by efficient mass production techniques. Thus, because the pantyhose was formed from a single tube of nylon, the trunk or panty portion thereof did not provide adequate rise to the waistline. Thus, not enough material was knitted to provide a body portion of the pantyhose extending from the crotch to the waistline to give the proper fit required for comfortably and securely attaching the pantyhose to the legs and body of the person wearing the pantyhose. Substantial effort has been made to overcome this problem as exemplified by inventions disclosed in the following patents: Fregeolle U.S. Pat. No. 3,802,229, German Pat. No. 1,800,166 and German Pat. No. 1,938,623. However, each of these patents discloses a rather complex knitting arrangement wherein combinations of rotary knitted and reciprocally knitted pantyhose portions are formed. In order to provide such pantyhose, special equipment is required, and extra time is required for the substitution of reciprocating for rotary courses. Even thus, the problem is not solved. In addition, as is well known in the art, reciprocally knitted hosiery is subject to runs since reciprocal knitting cannot provide a variety of stitch constructions such as tuck stitches required for rendering the garment run-proof in at least one direction.
A further drawback to the seamless pantyhose construction of the Johnson type is that the sheer nylon typically forming the pantyhose does not have adequate strength to sustain the gripping and pulling in the body portion thereof when the pantyhose is pulled over the legs and the trunk portion of the person wearing the pantyhose. This is because of the necessarily loose knitting required to provide the maximum rise possible. Thus, snags due to loose knitting, tears, runs, etc., are easily developed in these pantyhose even when the person wearing the pantyhose exercises unusual care in pulling the pantyhose on.
In view of the aforementioned, it is an object of this invention to provide a seamless crotch pantyhose having sufficient rise to fit comfortably around the waistline of a person wearing the pantyhose.
It is another object of the invention to provide an improved pantyhose construction having a strengthened upper panty portion so that runs, tears, etc., are not developed when the pantyhose is pulled onto the person wearing the pantyhose.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide an improved pantyhose structure having a seamless crotch which is substantially run-proof in the area joining the sheer nylon portion of the pantyhose with the upper panty portion thereof.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an improved pantyhose structure having a seamless crotch and which is capable of variations in designs in the panty portion therefor to accommodate fashion changes.